Contact Improvisation is what happens when you learn to trust your own body and your own listening so much that you feel free to lean on someone and let them take your weight for a moment.

It’s a martial art whose only aim is to fight for more connection, more pleasure and more play.

It’s a dance that happens all on its own – you won’t be learning any “dance moves”, but you’ll learn a lot about how YOUR body moves and what feels best for it.

Whether you’re relatively new* to dance and Contact Improvisation or you’re an experienced mover, you’ll be equally challenged and thrilled by the possibilities of flight, release, and resistance that CI offers. You’ll gain a deep understanding of your body’s mechanics and you’ll experience the pleasure of relating through simple acts of giving and receiving weight.

We’ll be cultivating our ability to be alert and safe in fast moving situations – an invaluable skill on so many levels, and one that requires strong personal commitment to mindfulness and mutual respect. Therefore, this is not a drop-in class and commitment to the full workshop is required.

Space is very limited – reserve your spot ASAP!

*If you’re completely new to CI, this session is not the one for you. There will be another Fundamentals session in the winter of 2018, so stay tuned. If you’re not sure whether you have “enough” experience, send a message and we’ll talk!

What people are saying:

“My biggest take away from the class was doing something new and something I wouldn’t normally try. I met new people and was surprised at how nice and welcoming they were. It also gave me something to look forward to every week which was a plus. If anyone ever asked about the workshop, I would completely recommend it. We had a great teacher and you shouldn’t be scared because everyone is there to relax and have fun. Everyone is learning, just like you!” -Eric Hernandez

“I took the CI Fundamentals workshop because I just wanted to try something new and to dance, but it also opened up new concepts for me that I can use in my own work. I loved laughing, and connecting to other people, and the fact that you can do it anywhere on small scale, like the grocery store with a friend. You can do as little or as much as you want and you can expect to be surprised by the experience.” -Page Ogden

“I believe I have slowed down and have more focus on intention. I notice a mental shift when I’m dancing. During the 5th class, there was a moment for me when I went outside and it was blatantly apparent I was calm and my head was so clear. Dancing meditation!” -James Morehouse

About Contact Improvisation:

Contact Improvisation is “a mode of movement which is relaxed, constantly aware and prepared, and onflowing. As a basic focus, the dancers remain in physical touch, mutually supportive and innovative, meditating upon the physical laws relating to their masses: gravity, momentum, inertia, and friction. They do not strive to achieve results, but rather, to meet the constantly changing physical reality with appropriate placement and energy.” – that’s how Steve Paxton, the creator of the form, defines it!

What To Expect From this Class:

You should expect a fun and dynamic movement class that focuses as much on mindfulness, breath and alignment as it does on courage and play.

I’ll be sharing exercises and practices that help to prepare your body for the dancing, but what actually happens in a contact improvisation dance is never pre-determined or proscribed, it depends entirely on what’s happening in the moment. The exercises come from yoga, martial arts, and other dance practices.

The class is suitable for people with some experience of CI.

We’ll be playing with gravity and flight and we’ll be looking for states of relaxed ease and pleasure. Most importantly, we’ll be learning to stay safe, alert and agile in unpredictable situations.

If you come regularly, your flexibility, strength and confidence in your physical capacity will greatly improve!

About Ophra:

Ophra Wolf (www.forceandflow.com) is a dancer and performance artist, teacher and healer dedicated to a lifelong study of movement and embodied intelligence as a vehicle for personal and cultural transformation. Contact improvisation is one of her primary practices, and her teaching is informed by a love of creative play and infinite possibility. She weaves together foundational and technical aspects of the practice with knowledge from her advanced bodywork practice and work as an experimental theater and dance improvisation performer. She’s had the privilege of working, studying and collaborating with luminaries of the dance and theater world and is strongly influenced by her ongoing participation since 2011 in Steve Paxton and Lisa Nelson’s Figure Space group